Journal of Early Childhood Care and Education

Vol. 7, Issue 1, 2023, 15–28

Development of skills at the preoperational stage; A
comparative study on Cognitive development of Urban and
rural children

Wajiha Kanwal*
Khalid Mehmood**
Rashda Perveen***
Abstract
The main aim of this study was to compare urban and rural school children
on cognitive development at the preoperational stage. The main question
for getting the answer was “What was the level of difference among rural
and urban school children on language development, egocentrism,
understanding of the environment, locus of control, and block building”.
Ten teachers teaching class prep to three in rural schools and ten teachers
from urban schools and 25 students from each area were conveniently
selected for data collection. Interviews and observations were used to
collect data regarding cognitive development at the Piagetian
preoperational stage. It was found that urban students were better at
language development compared to rural school children. Rural school
students were more egocentric compared to urban school students, rural
school children were unaware of urban environments, but urban students
were aware of rural and urban environments. Urban students showed more
conservation compared to rural school children and urban students were
more skillful in making buildings. From this study, it was concluded that
children in urban schools showed better cognitive development. It was
recommended that more facilities and expert teachers may be provided to
students of rural areas for better cognitive development.

Keywords: Cognition, preoperational development, language

development, egocentrism, understanding environment, locus of control,
block-building skills.

* Assistant Professor Department of Education UOW [email protected]

** Administration Punjab School Education Department [email protected]
*** Senior Teacher Punjab Education [email protected]
Kanwal, Mehmood, Parveen 16

Introduction

Cognitive development has been a very important concern since the work
of Piaget. Cognitive skills developed at an early age of students’ shape and
align their futures with their interests. Further backward progression
provides an essential base for forward progression. It means that whatever
children learn at their earlier stages becomes the base for their future
learning.
In Pakistan, preprimary and primary level students are those who
study in primary schools with the age range of 4-10 years. The government
of Pakistan is trying to formulate an ECE policy and implement it in true
spirit. ECE programs must be given priority for improving all the abilities
of early-age children including cognitive, emotional, moral, and social
development.
Early childhood education is getting recognition worldwide, including
in developed and developing countries for these reasons. That all the
period of early childhood is crucial because whatsoever a child learns
becomes part of his/her life and determines the path for the child’s future.
At the early stage of the children, many agencies are involved in bringing
up the children. These agencies include parents, preschool teachers, and
caregivers. Several skills are also developed during this very sensitive
period. There is a need to explore what skills can be developed during this
period of life.

Review of Literature

Piaget was an educationist who can be called a psychologist and biologist.

He observed what abilities are likely to be developed during the early
childhood period. Piaget proposed the theory of development which
described that every student has to pass four stages of development in life.
The first stage is the sensorimotor ranging from birth to two years, the
second stage ranging from two (2) to seven (7) years called the
preoperational stage, the third stage is the concrete operational stage
ranging from seven (7) to twelve (12) years and fourth stage formal
operational stage ranging from twelve (12) years to adulthood. Children
show different abilities, skills, and knowledge as a function of experiences,
and rates they encounter in their stages.
The preoperational stage is crucial because parents become conscious
about the learning of children and admit their children to school when they
approach four years. According to Cacioppo & Freberg (2013), the
preoperational stage ranges from 2-7 years. During this stage symbolic
Development of skills at the preoperational stage……. 17

abilities begin to develop, where children use words and images as

symbols for understanding the world around them (Bjorklund & Blasi,
2012). According to Santrock (2011), children can do colors different
pictures or sketches. However, they cannot think logically (Ciccarelli &
White, 2012).
According to Rashid (2010), parents did not play a role in the social
skill development of their children. Teachers failed to inculcate social
skills among children in Pakistan directly or indirectly. Rashid also
asserted that schools also could not fulfill the responsibility of developing
social skills among children and the same is with the community.
Suggestions by Rashid (2012) that are helpful to improve children's social
skills are about integrating social skills into the curriculum. Rashid further
suggested that only the development of social skills is studied in the
research conducted by him, so the development of social skills may be
studied among other levels of students. There is a need for parents,
communities, and schools to involve and play their role in the development
of social skills among children.
It is proved by Mukhtar & Naz (2021) that social skills are indicators
of cognitive skills. it was also concluded by Mukhtar & Naz (2021) stated
that effective social skills are essential for normal behavioral and
psychological adjustment for children and lack of social skills may lead to
problematic interpersonal relations with others. Parents and teachers
should pay attention to teaching children good and effective social skills
so that they communicate with others confidently and comfortably.
Language Development at 4-5 years
At this stage, children seek admission to schools and can respond to
different situations. They can judge the value of stories and can answer
questions related to these stories. Their observational power is developed,
and they can observe everything with understanding. They can also
interpret the observed facts. Children can talk and convey their points of
view quite easily. They can say short and sometimes long sentences easily.
For example, if a child is asked to narrate the whole day’s experience,
he/she can easily narrate it in simple words. They can narrate a long story
based on their imagination. They can pronounce sounds with more
accuracy. The children can tell wonderful, exciting, artistic stories.

Egocentrism
The second stage of cognitive development for children between the
ages of 2 and 7 is known as the preoperational stage. Students in the lowest
Kanwal, Mehmood, Parveen 18

grade in elementary school are at the preoperational stage. They go

through a considerable cognitive development process that involves,
among other things, logical cognition, memory, spatial reasoning,
conservation, and imaginative thinking. Toddlers and youngsters up to the
age of seven are capable of thinking symbolically at this developmental
stage. Their language grows more sophisticated. They also grow in
memory and imagination, which enables them to distinguish between the
past and the future and to play pretend. Many cognitive talents in infants
manifest earlier than predicted by Piaget's hypothesis, according to studies
(Bauer, Larkina, & Deocampo, 2011). Babies have natural knowledge of
the outside world, and they learn more quickly than Piaget anticipated
(Spelke & Newport, 1998).

Centration

This is the propensity to focus on just one or a small portion of an event's

or an object's dimensions. This phrase was introduced by Jean Piaget to
describe children's ability to pay close attention to just one important
aspect of a problem, situation, object, etc., while ignoring other, equally
important aspects. The second stage of cognitive development, known
as the preoperational stage, is when centration typically emerges
(encompassing the kids between ages two and seven). The concept of
egocentrism, which Piaget first introduced in the same theory, is where
the idea of centration first appeared. The concept underlying
egocentrism is that children should always remain in the spotlight. They
think that everything occurs both for and in favour of them. Children
are likely resistant to admit the point of view which is different from
their point of view.

Conservation

According to this concept, children of the preoperational stage are not

able to differentiate objects containing the same mass in different
shapes. He presented a toddler with two similar glasses with the same
amount of liquid in a famous experiment. The boy watched closely as
he took one of these cups and poured the contents into a higher, thinner
glass. Then he asked the youngster which glass—the shorter, thicker
glass or the taller, thinner one—contained more liquid. Youngsters who
were put through this test consistently indicated that the taller glass
contained more liquid. In general, people struggled to distinguish
between quantity and shape in their imaginations (Myers, 2014).
Development of skills at the preoperational stage……. 19

Locus of Control

Locus of control is the extent to which people believe they have power
over the things that happen in their lives (Cherry, 2019). This concept is
also being used in child development, although this term is concerned with
Psychology. This relates to children and adults. People who assume that
they can influence events acquire an internal locus of control (Cherry,
2019; Joelson,2017). Here when a child never gets appreciation for what
he did, he will look inside himself and rethink to improve things. A child
thinks in the same way as a teenager when he gets bad marks on a test and
thinks, “I’ll start studying sooner next time. He says to himself “I shall talk
to my teacher about what to focus on” or “I will talk to my father to help
me”. Having an internal locus is linked to positive outcomes, such as
higher academic achievement, high self-esteem, better physical and
mental health, feeling happier and more independent, and more success at
work (Cherry, 2019; Hosseini et al. 2016; Jain & Singh, 2015; Joelson,
2017; Shepherd, Owen, Fitch, & Marshall, 2006).
Felfe & Lalive (2018) studied that ECC has more ability to develop
cognitive abilities of the children such as scientific thinking and verbal
abilities. These cognitive abilities help further the acquisition of specific
skills. Discussion and conclusion of Yasrab & Shah (2022) that children
who received the ECE teaching grow in ameliorate manner. It was also
concluded that most of the centers were without ECE trained teachers.
Statement of the Problem
It was observed that in Pakistan that teachers at the Montessori or play
group level needed to be trained in the development of cognitive skills
among children of age (4-5 years) in different areas of Islamabad Capital
Territory. The study “Development of skills at the preoperational stage; A
comparative study on Cognitive development of Urban and rural children”
has been done to find out the level of cognitive development at the
preoperational stage.
Objectives of the study
The following were the objectives of the study:
1. To find out the cognitive skills of urban students of (4-6) years of age.
2. To find out the cognitive skills of rural students of (4-6) years of
age.
3. To compare the student’s cognitive development of urban and
rural students on language development, egocentrism,
Kanwal, Mehmood, Parveen 20

understanding environment, Conservational and colouring, and

block building.
Research Questions

1. What was the situation of cognitive development among children

of (4-6) years of age in urban areas?
2. What was the situation of cognitive development among children
of (4-6) years of age in rural areas?
3. What was the difference between urban and rural students on
cognitive development in language development, egocentrism,
understanding of the environment, locus of control, and
colouring and block building?
Research Methodology
This study was descriptive in nature.
Sample and Sampling Technique
This study constitutes 20 teachers teaching in Islamabad Model
Institutions and 50 children between the ages of 4-5 years. out of these 20
teachers, ten teachers were selected from urban areas, and ten teachers
were selected from Urban areas. In the same way, 50 children were
selected from 10 schools: 25 from rural and 25 from Urban areas.
Sampling Framework
Rural Sector (Nilore) Urban Sector-II
Teac IM IM IM IM IM IM IM IM IM IMSG
hers SB SG SG SB SG SB CG SB SG IMCG
Kh Kh Tar Jab Jab 1/8 1/8. G.8 AI 1/8.3
ana ana lai a a .1 3 /4 OU

2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

Stud IM IM IM IM IM IM IM IM IM IMSG
ents Sb SG SG SB SG SB CG SB SG IMCG
(2-6 Kh Kh Tar Jab Jab 1/8 1/8. G.8 AI 1/8.3
Year ana ana lai a a .1 3 /4 OU
s)
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
A multistage purposive sampling technique was used to select the
sample respondents. In the first stage, two sectors were randomly selected.
Development of skills at the preoperational stage……. 21

In the second stage, five schools were purposively selected from each
sector where students of age between 4-6 years were enrolled. After
seeking permission from the respective heads, five students and two
teachers were selected as per the criteria.

Research Tool

The observation was used as a tool for data collection.

1. Observation

A checklist for observation of different cognitive skills was used

where skills through activities were observed. Constructs
regarding cognitive development were selected from the
literature. A list of cognitive abilities and a list of activities for
measurement of cognitive skills are given in the following.
Students were given these tasks/activities and then observed the
development of cognitive skills.

Table 1
Tasks or Activities for measuring cognitive skills
S.N Cognitive ability Activities for measurement of
developed abilities
1 Language 1. Tell names, father’s name,
Development and address.
2. Tell body parts about their
functions
2 Egocentrism First, some sweets were given to the
children, and were asked to share
them with others as they have also the
right to eat sweets.
3 Understanding 1. Charts of the rural
Environment environment, Urban
Environment, and Water
environment will be used.
4 Centration 2. A white cat with white paws
activity.
5 Locus of Control Locus of control is the extent to
which people believe they have
power over the things that happen in
their lives (Cherry, 2019).
Kanwal, Mehmood, Parveen 22

6 Conservation In this activity, the first two disposal

glasses with the same volume of
water were used. Then water from
one glass was poured into another
glass of tall thin glass. Children were
asked to tell which glass contains
more water or less water.
7 Coloring Flower was provided to children of
age 4-5 years for coloring skills and
quality of coloring abilities.

8 Making Buildings Plastic Blocks were used to find the

with the Help of ability to build with the help of
Blocks. blocks.

For example, correct words spoken by the students in unit time were
calculated and for the understanding of the environment, students were
shown different environments (Water environment, rural Environment,
Urban environment, etc.). In the same way, a cat for centration or locus of
control was used. A picture of a flower with a pedicel was given to the
students for measuring their colouring skills.
Further interviews were conducted with the teachers to collect data of
students regarding their cognitive development.
Data Analysis
Data was analyzed in both qualitative and quantitative formats. In
Qualitative format, data got through observation and interviews were
analyzed. Data was analyzed on three levels high (ᾰ) medium (β) low (γ).
Table 1
Comparison of urban-II and Rural Children on language
development
S.N Total Responses %age Total Responses %age
Urban-II Rural
1 ᾰ = 20 80% 5 20%
2 25 β =5 20% 25 15 60%
3 γ = Nil 00% 5 20%

Table.1 shows that overall children of Urban-II schools have well-

developed language skills as compared to the children of rural areas. It
was observed that 80% of children performed the language tasks at a
high level whereas only 20% children of in rural areas performed at a
high level.
Development of skills at the preoperational stage……. 23

Table 2
Comparison of Urban-II and Rural Children on Egocentrism
S.N Total %age Total Responses %age
Responses
Urban-II Rural (Nilore Sector)
1 ᾰ = 7 28% 4 16%
2 25 β = 12 48% 25 10 40%
3 γ = 6 24% 11 44%
Table .2 shows that only 28% of children showed a high level of
egocentrism in the area of Urban schools whereas only 16% of children
were egocentric in the rural area.
Table 3
Comparison of Urban-II and Rural Children on Understanding
Environment
S.N Total %age Total Responses %age
Responses
Urban-II Rural
1 ᾰ = 17 68% 10 40%
2 25 β =5 20% 25 8 32%
3 γ = 3 12% 7 28%
Table.3 depicts that 68% of children in Urban-II areas showed high-
level cognitive development toward the understanding of the
environment as compared to only 40% high-level development about the
understanding of the environment.
Table 4
Comparison of Urban-II and Rural Children on Centration
S.N Total %age Total Responses %age
Responses
Urban-II Rural
1 ᾰ = 2 64% 12 48%
2 25 β =7 28% 25 6 24%
3 γ = 16 04% 7 28%
Table. 4 shows that 64% of children from Urban-II children
demonstrated decentration whereas only 48% of children from rural
areas showed centration.
Kanwal, Mehmood, Parveen 24

Table 5
Comparison of Urban-II and Rural Children on Locus of Control
S.N Total %age Total Responses %age
Responses
Urban-II Rural
1 ᾰ = 12 48% 10 40%
2 25 β =8 32% 25 7 28%
3 γ = 5 20% 8 32%
Table.5 shows that 48% of children demonstrated locus of control
from the urban population whereas only 40% of children from rural areas
demonstrated a high-level locus of control.
Table 6
Comparison of Urban-II and Rural Children on Conservation
S.N Total %age Total Responses %age
Responses
Urban-II Rural
1 ᾰ = 13 52% 11 44%
2 25 β =9 36% 25 4 16%
3 γ = 3 12% 9 36%
Table.6 demonstrated that 52% of children from Urban area has
conservation skills of a high level, whereas only 44 % of children from
rural area have developed conservation skills at a high level.

Table 7
Comparison of Urban-II and Rural Children on Colouring
S.N Total %age Total Responses %age
Responses
Urban-II Rural
1 ᾰ = 16 64% 10 40%
2 25 β =5 20% 25 6 24%
3 γ = 4 16% 9 36%
Table.7 demonstrates that 64% of children have high-level coloring
skills whereas only 40% of children from rural areas have developed
colouring skills at a high level.
Development of skills at the preoperational stage……. 25

Table 8
Comparison of Urban-II and Rural Children on Making Building with
Blocks
S.N Total %age Total Responses %age
Responses
Urban-II Rural
1 ᾰ = 15 60% 8 32%
2 25 β =5 20% 25 7 28%
3 γ = 5 20% 10 40%
Table .8 demonstrates that 60% of children from urban II showed
high-level skills of building-making with the help of blocks whereas only
32% of children from rural areas showed high-level skill development.
Findings and Discussions
It was found from the data of children that more children from urban-II
areas have high levels of development of cognitive skills as compared to
rural children. There was no child with low-level development of language
from urban-II areas whereas from rural areas there were some children
who developed lower-level language skills (Table.1)
It was found from table.2 that more children showed egocentrism from
urban-II areas whereas fewer children showed egocentrism from rural
areas. It was found that understanding of the environment was developed
among children of urban-II areas to a larger extent as compared to the
understanding of the environment among children from rural areas
(table.3). It was found from the data of table.4 that skill of de-centration
was developed among the children of Urban-II whereas children of rural
area demonstrated centration skills. Children from the Urban-II area
demonstrated centration at a high level compared to the centration skill of
children in rural areas Table.4. It was found that the locus of control of
both groups of children was less than fifty percent. which showed
complexity in the Locus of control among children. (Table.5). It was found
that children of the urban-II area showed a little bit higher level of
conservation skills. According to Piaget conservation skills may be
developed among students in the last years of the pre-operational stage or
early years of the operational stage of children(table.6). Children of urban
areas showed much better skills in colouring the pictures provided to them,
but children of the rural area showed fewer skills in colouring. (It was also
found that children of the rural area showed much interest in colouring and
demanded that they may be provided with resources (table.7). It was found
through making buildings with blocks that children of the urban-II area
have too much better skills compared to the children of rural area. But the
Kanwal, Mehmood, Parveen 26

children showed much interest in making buildings with the help of

blocks. This showed that there was a lack of resources for the development
of certain required skills among the children of rural children.
Different factors affecting cognitive development were found in home
factors and the environment. Teachers said that parents do not care for the
cognitive development of children between 4-6 years. For example, some
children demanded to have blocks to play with and said that they have no
toys in their home as parents cannot provide them. Another factor was time
which parents were not able to give to their children. Most often parents
do not motivate their children toward cognitive development. They do not
provide the sources and time to their children for activities that enhance
cognitive skills. Also, the variant environment is responsible for varied
cognitive development among children. Depravation of a good
environment and activities were seen among the children of rural areas.
According to Talat, Abro, & Jamali (2013) during this stage children of
the years 2-7 go through cognitive development. During this stage
processes such as egocentrism, imaginative thinking, logical thought,
conservation, locus of control, and special reasoning develop. In the same
way, development is related to the environment and the special abilities of
the children.
Conclusions
It was found and concluded that overall children showed more cognitive
development studying in Urban-II areas as compared to rural areas.
Language development among children in urban areas was up to the mark
whereas language development of rural children was less developed. It is
concluded that children of urban showed less egocentrism whereas the
children of rural areas demonstrated more egocentrism. Children of urban-
II areas showed more conservation skills compared to rural children.
Children from rural areas were less skilled in making buildings with blocks
compared to urban children.
Recommendations
Parents may be motivated to provide good learning environments to their
children of age between 4-6 years. Organizations may play their role to
provide opportunities to children and parents from rural areas regarding
Language development. Keeping in view the skills development among
rural children, it is recommended that resources may be provided to the
children of rural children and their parents may be guided.
Development of skills at the preoperational stage……. 27

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Citation of this Article:
Kanwal, W., Mehmood, K., & Perveen, R. (2023). Development of
skills at the preoperational stage; A comparative study on cognitive
development of urban and rural children. Journal of Early Childhood
Care and Education, 7(1), 00-00.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30971/jecce.v7i1.1450